This is a true story of how I ran across the best boss in the world.

Haddonfield, New Jersey

I used to work in Haddonfield, New Jersey. My boss? Nasty bitch, foul mouthed and hated white people. Working as Controller, I had a staff. Napakatamad, bastos at maldita. I can’t do much. Ka-chika nang impaktita si maldita. I didn’t like the partnership they had dahil it was unprofessional and it was then that I wished i had another job.

Business divested: Unemployed

Months passed, anak nang leche oo! I was only joking, aba! Pucha! Na-aksidente ang boss kong lalaki sa Pennsylvania Turnpike, na-ospital nang pagkatagal tagal. Away-away mga anak nang trust funds. Ayon, nagkamalas malas ang babae! Kaya binenta nang dati kong boss ang business nya. Bigla ako nawalan nang trabahooooo!!! Leche! Kaya ayan, careful what you wish for at baka biglang dumating! Grr!

Dayton, New Jersey

Dahil unemployed, pwes! Nag-bulakbul ako. And so, madalas ako non sa bahay ni John. Yon ang meeting point namin nang mga babae kong kebigan. We hang out in a lot of New places – New York, New Brunswick, New Hope atsaka sa Princeton, Route 9. Mababa ang tingin namin noon sa mga nag-hahangout sa Philly. HaHaHa!

Cover on local paper

One morning, pauwi ako galing Dayton, I stopped by at Wawa. I bought a local paper in Princeton. Splashed on the cover, litrato – GWAPOOOO! mega-buy daw sila nang sangkatutak na radio stations sa buong Jersey, Western Pennsylvania at Nueva Yorka. Aba?! Nakalagay lang ang pangalan nang company nila, KBC (Kilalang Broadcasting Company).

Philadelphia

Soon as I got home, hinanap ko sa yellow pages ang KBC. I found the address and a number, pero wala akong name to go with the company name!? Hmm.. teka, tawagan ko kaya??? Tinawagan ko nga in the morning. I pretended na I have an appointment with the President and I was going to give him a presentation copy kaso I could not spell his name right. Aba?! Say nang receptionist, eto… spell ko. Bam! I got a name! I got a company name! I got the address! I got everything! He! He! He!

Letter of introduction

Then I started crafting a letter:

My name is Reynz. I am writing this letter because I read about your company on today’s Tempo. I work for another KBC in Philadelphia and I remember, we were in the same position five (5) years ago, blah, blah, blah, zizhabom, chika, chika, chuvalinga.

Mike: The Call

3 days later, there was this very handsome message on my voicemail. “If you’re available tomorrow or Friday, call us, we would like to talk to you!“. Avaaaaa!!! Chenalyn!!! I was really, really excited, it was like winning bingo dun sa Ever Gotesco sa Pasig. Really! Following morning, I called the number. He answered. Why wait for friday?! “Ah… let me check my hectic schedule… AHA! I got one free! Right here! ‘To o! Kitang kita! It say’s right here tomorrow!“. So, tomorrow it was. Palis shoes. Kukus nails. Ahit heirs. Wash car. Vroom, vrroom!

Princeton

I was nervous. The secretary said that he should be coming in a few minutes. Then… “Hi! My name is Mike. Did you find our place alright?“. OhMYGOSH!! Honestly, I have no idea what he was talking about. He was cute! Goodlooking! Handsome! Oh!!! Hawig sya ki JFK kaya JFJ. So, we shook hands. Electrified!!! Then he smiled.. “Are you alright?“. “Oh, I’m fine. Thank you!“.

Instant connection

He never really asked me about what I do in my current job. We talked about the broadcasting business of which I was familiar with. We talked about strategies that I was familiar with as well. Then he switched to “how’s your family?“. I laughed. I said “Oh, they must be doing fine, because I don’t hear anything. You see, I come from a dysfunctional family.” Humagalpak ba naman nang tawa and said “Well, welcome to America!“

Hired

We talked for hours! I realized that I was very comfortable with him as he was with me. Otherwise, I don’t think he would gonna keep me that long. He started introducing me to everybody there! Then we went back to his office and said… “So… when can you start?“. Huh?! Ano yon? Di ba kelangang pahirapan mo ako? Wala bang initiation??? Di ba kelangang i-paddle muna?! I said, give me two weeks say ko. Else I lose my 401-k with my employer. He said, ok. Handshakes and he gave me a pat in the back, led me to the door and (!) to the parking! He said “I’m really excited you’re joining us!“. “Me too”.

Nirvana

I was in heavens. I was like in tralala-land singing The Sound of Music. I’ve been meaning to leave my job badly! So, when I told my boss that ” AYKWIT! “, I felt those magma boiling deep inside my intestines just blew up and released all the pressures in my ass that eye em free!!! And so, I moved to KBC. I love it there. After all, Princeton is Princeton. Sosy. People dress up nicely, talk very professionally at maganda ang lugar, especially the University. Dami gwapoo!

Our wavelengths were talking

Mike would turn out to be a very, very nice boss and we’d become very close. Naiinggit tuloy mga puti to me. But they see the closeness in us. Have you ever met someone na sa mata pa lang eh you already know kung ano ang iniisip nya? Ganyan kami ni Mike. I could not explain it. But more often than not, prehas ang vibes namin 99% of the time.

Promotions

And he’s funny too. Nasasakyan nya mga katimangan ko. So, as years passed, sangkatutak ang promotion ko pati bonuses. When I designed an entire budgeting program for him para ma-solve yong problema nya sa mga timang na General Managers, naku! muntik na akong pakasalan! Kaya lang di pede kasi me asawa na sya! Ang ginawa, promote uli ako at ako’y ginawang Controller. I was really, really lucky sa kanya.

Meeting Mike’s Family

Na-meet ko mother nya. Luka-luka din gaya ko. We would laugh and laugh at binibili din nya mga corny kong jokes. I also met the father. Puro naman business pinag-uusapan namin. I also met yong Grandma nya. Isa ring lukaret. And he introduced me to his wife. Ang gandaaa!!!? Mga Italians sila. I met everyone! They’re really really nice to me. I can’t even believe it! We were having dinner one time at tinanong ako ni Granny – “So Reynz, what are you?” Say ko… “I’m Irish!“. Nabasag yong bahay nang tawanan nang madla! They knew what I was talking about!

Italians are the best!

Mayayaman sila sa northern part nang Italy who moved to the US. It was funny because one weekend na andun ako sa bahay nila for a party, ipinakita nila yong movie nang great grandfather nila noong dumating sa Amerika. Shock ako! Akala ko, I was watching a Kennedy film! Ganun pala sila kayaman! Ugh! And to think that he acts just like… well.. he simply doesn’t act like yong mga conio saatin… The more I like him.

Car lover

He loves cars. Ang garahe nya eh nagmistulang car dealer! He loves Lexus. He’s got a Mercedes, a boxter, a Lexus SUV and a Toyota V8. But he specially love to drive the SC Lexus. He works late and stays late. In the morning when he comes to work, he’s got most of my officemates in his office. They would talk for hours. When he’s finished, he moves around the offices and talks to everybody. Wala lang. Chika lang. That’s the reason why he stays late. He starts working around 4 or 5pm.

Office politics

Days passed…

Weeks…

Months…

Me kinakainisan pala sya sa work. Aha! Si Pidro.

Si Pidro is our CFO. He too wanted to be the COO. Eh si Mike na ang COO. So mega-away sila in a subtle way. Mga professional eh. Kaya alang kalmutan. Meanwhile, I was in between. Kaya galit ang Pidro saakin. You know the drill. Yet, I get along very well with everybody pati na sa CEO namin. But the CEO has to appease the CFO, kaya tinanggal ako sa management meeting. Umiyak ako. Aktwali. Atungal yata yon eh.

The car joke

Si Mike naman to appease me, alang ginawa, promote ako nang promote. Tahan na anak! Eto o! Bonus! Aba? Cries no more! Chenalyn again! Since Mike loved to drive fancy cars, one time, I parked my old, clanky, green civic sa tabi nang kumikinang na Lexus nya. I waited for him to get out of his car… and then… “Aren’t you annoyed that your staff drive a nasty and ugly looking car like that? I mean, dizguzzzting, ain’t it?” Tawa sya! FK YOU sabi. Hindi ko sya tinigilan that week! Inis na inis na. He He He Napipikon na. HA HA HA Sige pa rin ako. Sa totoo lang! Everytime na? ginagawa ko yon, naloloka sya saakin!

Lexus LS 400. Returned

Then…. one day…

“Here’s they key. You car is downstairs”.

A what? Downstairs? Yong puso ko! tob!tob!tob! Karipas ako sa parking lot! Eh di naman kasi sinabi kung azan eh! So, para akong timang! Klik nang klik nong key all over the parking lot! Ang lecheng yon!

TADANGGG!!! It’s a Lexus LS 400.

Hmmm…. *isip* ….. *tsinitsek car*…. *kamot ulo*

Anoto?! Kasimangot ako. Di yata tama to. Biro ko lang namang sitenta anyos ako ah! Hmmpptt! Umuusok ang ilong ko! Binalik ko ang susi. “You nuts?!” Say nya. A ewan. Mag-ta-traysikel na lang ako from Philadelphia to Princeton!

No clue on luxury cars

Nagsumbong ako sa ceremonial wife ko. Ngek!!! Namura tuloy ako! “Hindi mo ba alam kung ano ang Lexus LS 400??? Tanga ka ba?! Palibhasa kariton sa barrio lang ang alam mong luxury car!” Naku, kung ano anong tuldok hyphenated exclamation point ang inabot nang lola ninyo sa asawa ko!!! Muntik na akong tumalon sa Golden Gate Bridge. Malayo lang samin. Eeroplano pa ako.

My 1st luxury car

Kina-umagahan sa opis… me note… me susi… he he he ano kaya to? Balik ako sa parking lot!!!

Avaaaa…. Mazda Millenia!

Medyo maliit sya sa LS kaya get ko na sya, else, baka jumbagin na talaga ako nang asawa koooo!!!

My first Lexus

Years passed, nagpalit nang nagpalit ang kotse ko. Pinaka-latest na binigay sakin ni Mike, which I lurrrveee so much was this: TADAANNNGGG!

The day Mike got upset with me

I drove this SUV kung saan saang lupalop nang Amerika. Kung pwede pa sa Argentina, titirahin ko pa yun eh. So I drove this SUV sa Boston, sa Montreal, sa Toronto, Washington DC and Provincetown at kung saan saang kanto. Nagalit saakin si Mike! He He He “Where in da world have you been driving! Eh, you’re only just about 34 miles away? Did you go to Mars?! You have 880,000 miles in one year!!!” Ngi-ngiti lang ako, da-dramahan ko lang nang … “kwan eh…ah.. ano… ahhh…detours are really far! daming construction kasi eh!” ‘taz wala na. Mahal na naman ako. He He He

I work for my boss. Not the company

I made everything easy for Mike. Umuusok pa lang ang problema, sino-solve ko na before it even gets to his desk. By the time he finds out, mega-ready ako nang “this is how I resolved it”. Pag di ko kaya, mega-warn ako to give him some heads up. I’d give him list of possible alternatives. At pag nag suggest sya, I’d study and analyze the proposition at say ko kung alin ang better, best at throw away. But always, it’s all about making it easier on his part. Ang alam ko, kahit I work for the company, I actually work for him. Yun lang.

French immersion in Paris to Temple Univ

An sarap kebigan ni Mike. Minsan pag wa sya sa opis, naiinis ako! Pag nawawala sya nang ilang weeks, natataranta ako! Ano ba tong nangyari sakin!!! I was on my 2nd year sa french classes. He was willing to pay for my 6 months immersion classes including stay in France. Ow? Why not this… ahh… MBA? He He He…Avaaaa! Pumayag!!! So, yong France ko naging Temple University. O di chienes!!

Why is there an Exit sign?

Sabi nga, once na pataas ka nang pataas, the more they see your ass kaya binabato ka. Ngayon, napapag-initan na ako sa opis. Especially now na the next logical step for me is VP. Napapansin ko na talaga ang init. I can see the signs on the wall. The sign says dun lapit office ko: EXIT.

Business in Manila, an MBA Project

Pero sabi naman, I stay with them for the next 10 years daw piktapos nang MBA ko. Ahh… Ok. Bahala na! Tutal mahal naman ako nang Mike eh. So, my MBA went on… and I really loved and enjoyed my MBA experience… During my last year in school, I had a project I was doing that I have to go home and implement. Which I did. My business was running smoothly when I went back to the US.

Mike in the hospital

Few weeks later, biglang na-ospital ang Mike. Bumalik daw ang cancer. Na-depress ako. I got used to being around him. We would eat lunch together, nakatunganga lang kami. Wa talk. We just look at each other. Smile, ngiti. Kain. Talk shit. Halakhak! Then, silence. We even go to the gym together and sometimes, I just see him there. In our minds, alam ko ang pinag-uusapan namin. One time, sa opis nya, naka-upo lang ako. “Don’t worr! Everything will be ok!” ngek! sya pa tong nagsabi! But I could see the big change. He lost a lost of weight. He turned yellow. And he’s always been absent.

Back to Manila on vacation

I went home to Manila for vacation. I stayed there for a month. Yet all those times, ang isip ko was Mike. Bihira akong magdasal, but this time, matindi ang dasal ko. I love my boss. I do. I care about him a lot, lexus or no lexus.

Where’s Mike?

I went back to the US. Miss ko na si Mike. Nagmamadali to get to work.

Mike was not there.

“Where’s Mike?”

Nasa Mt. Sinai daw sa New York. Nalungkot ako. This time iba ang feelings ko. I can’t seem to work. Mas lalo akong na-depress. I went to the CEO’s office. “Can I go visit Mike?” Sabi, they will find out. So, I waited… and waited…

Walking to my office one day, nakasabay ko yong head nang legal namin.

“Hey! Did you know it already?“

“About?“

“Don’t be shock.”

“Mike’s gone.“

37 years old, very handsome, 2 kids, beautiful wife.

Colon cancer.

Continued here: Part 2

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